The present disclosure relates to bicycles and other human-powered and motorized wheeled vehicles, and more particularly to devices for helping people maintain stability on a bicycle or other wheeled vehicle which requires balance for stable operation.
While the disclosed swinging hub for adjusting wheel camber is not limited to learning to ride a bicycle, an understanding of the principles of operation of the disclosed swinging hub may be gleaned from describing the process of learning to ride a bicycle. The traditional process of learning to ride a bicycle is frightening and can be painful, and the process has not changed over the years. Typically a child gets assistance from a parent who pushes the child on a bike, runs alongside and then lets go, hoping that the child will gain balance before falling over. The learning curve during this process is very steep.
Conventional tricycles are well known for use by children not ready to begin learning to ride a bike, and training wheels are well known accessories for children's bicycles. However, there remains a need for devices to make the process of learning to ride a bike safer and enjoyable, and to make the process part of the goal itself, with the result of a more positive experience for parent and child alike.
One difficulty arising with bicycles and other two-wheeled vehicles is that at rest or at slow speeds, the ability to maintain the vehicle in an upright manner relies much more heavily on the ability of the rider to balance themselves and the vehicle. As speed increases the gyroscopic effects generated by the spinning wheels helps to maintain the vehicle upright. Thus, all riders of bicycles and other vehicles not having a broad lateral wheelbase must exert additional effort to maintain the vehicle in an upright position when at rest or at a slow speed. All riders of such vehicles might appreciate a mechanism that allows such vehicle to have a broader lateral wheel base when the vehicle is at rest or moving at slow speed which lateral wheelbase may be narrowed as the speed of the vehicle increases.
The disclosed swinging hub for adjusting wheel camber has various aspects but is particularly well suited to helping children learn how to ride a bike on their own and for other situations in which a rider of a vehicle desires the inherent stability of a vehicle to be changed under differing circumstances. Unlike traditional training wheels, that simply prevent the bike from tipping, the disclosed swinging hub for adjusting wheel camber when utilized with a wheeled vehicle allows children to learn how to balance themselves gradually, and thereby allows them to learn at their own pace. The disclosed swinging hub for adjusting wheel camber also allows all riders of vehicles equipped with such hub to exert less effort to maintain the stability of the vehicle when it is at rest or at slow speed.
More particularly, the disclosed swinging hub for adjusting wheel camber provides a swinging hub capable of providing adjustable wheel camber for a vehicle. According to one aspect of the disclosure the hub has a body with left and right axles extending laterally therefrom, at least one axle being pivotally mounted, and includes a camber control mechanism coupled at least to the one axle and adapted to adjust the angle thereof with respect to the other axle. The camber control mechanism includes a linkage for engaging the at least one axle and further includes an actuator mounted on the hub body for selectively driving the axle up and down to adjust the wheel camber.
According to another aspect of the disclosure a hub for providing adjustable wheel camber on a bicycle, comprises a hub body, left and right axles and a camber control mechanism. The left and right axles extend laterally from said hub body and are each adapted to support a wheel with at least one of said axles mounted so as to pivot vertically. The camber control mechanism is coupled to said at least one axle and adapted to adjust the angle thereof with respect to the other axle. The hub is adapted for removable attachment to a pair of dropouts on a bicycle frame.
According to yet another aspect of the disclosure a human powerable wheeled vehicle with a camber adjustment mechanism comprises a frame, at least one wheel rotatably mounted on one end portion of said frame, a hub mounted on a second end portion of said frame, and a camber control mechanism. The hub has first and second axles extending laterally therefrom with at least one of said axles being vertically pivotally mounted; a wheel mounted on each of said axles; and a camber control mechanism. The camber control mechanism adjusts the angle of said pivotally mounted axle and thereby adjusts the camber of the wheel mounted thereon. The camber control mechanism includes a linkage for engaging said pivotally mounted axle and further includes an actuator mounted on said hub body for selectively driving said linkage up and down to adjust the wheel camber.
The objects and advantages of the disclosed swinging hub will be more apparent upon reading the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.